


As Long As You Love Me

by maggs689



Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: M/M, Unrequited Love, just a little something
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-13
Updated: 2019-09-13
Packaged: 2020-10-17 19:23:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20626262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maggs689/pseuds/maggs689
Summary: Taylor has a realization in the car on the way home from a game.





	As Long As You Love Me

They won tonight, 6-2. Taylor had two goals, one of them unassisted. He’s exhausted and sated and giddy in the car with Nico on the way home. He pulls out of the player lot and onto Mulberry while Nico fiddles with the radio, flipping channels to find some music. 

Taylor stops at the merge onto McCarter Highway, backed up with post-game traffic, just as Nico lands on a station playing “As Long as You Love Me” by the Backstreet Boys. Nico throws up his hands and is smiling from ear to ear.

“I didn’t know you had the Backstreet Boys in Switzerland,” Taylor grins at him.

“Of course we did!” Nico exclaims, turning the radio up louder. The windows of Taylor’s SUV are down and the music is pumping out into the Newark night.

Nico is singing along loudly and gesturing in time with the lyrics, pointing at Taylor as he sings “I don’t care who you are” and then folding his hands over his chest dramatically as he sings “as long as you love me.” Taylor is watching him, laughing, and then he’s singing along too. Traffic isn’t moving so Taylor takes his hands off the wheel to put his hands up and wave them around as they head into the chorus again. 

Nico is beaming at him, pulling faces and dancing in his seat to make Taylor laugh even more. They’re both trying to sing along but now they’re cracking each other up, the absurdity of the moment doubling them both over in giggles. Nico reaches over to touch Taylor’s shoulder while he laughs and Taylor looks at his face, bright and happy, and he’s struck with how much he loves Nico in that moment. 

He’s known Nico for two years and had a crush on him just as long, but they’re friends and teammates, so Taylor has kept a lid on his feelings. If he indulges Nico sometimes - letting Nico talk him into getting ice cream after practice even though it isn’t on their diet plan or buying Nico tickets to rock shows in the city that Taylor knows Nico will love - that’s Taylor’s way of dealing with his feelings. He always wants Nico to love him back, but he’ll settle for being the one Nico likes as a friend if that’s all that’s on offer.

But in this moment, Taylor is taken aback by the way that Nico is making his heart squeeze in his chest. Maybe it’s post-game exhaustion setting in, but Taylor feels loose-limbed, like anything is possible. The street lights are shining through the sunroof and glinting off of Nico’s hair and Nico’s eyes are dancing in delight at making Taylor laugh, and Taylor just has to lean in and put his hand on the back of Nico’s neck to pull him into a kiss. A kiss that starts off with them laughing with their lips pressed together but soon deepens into something more serious, their breaths catching as their tongues touch, Nico leaning closer for more.

But then the car behind them beeps its horn and Taylor snaps out of his reverie. The song is over and he hasn’t taken the initiative to kiss Nico after all. He’s let the moment pass by and, as he pulls out onto the highway, he feels his heart squeeze again, this time in regret. As he drives, as Nico chatters away blithely in the seat next to him, Taylor puts his hand to the center of his chest, willing the tightness to go away. This isn’t the first time he’s wondered what would happen if Nico could someday see him as more than a friend, and it won’t be the last. Until then, Taylor keeps driving.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Comments are welcome :)


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